Aus Open Day 3: Stosur set for second round test

The dwelling has begun again. Bernard Tomic made such a thumping start to the 2013 Australian Open on Tuesday night that the country will again dare to imagine he will still be there near the end. An obscure qualifier awaits in the next round, then prospectively Roger Federer on Saturday night. The heir to Lleyton Hewitt is almost fully apparent.

Tomic needed barely 1 hours to dispense with Leonardo Mayer. The Australian plays an arrhythmic game, and the Argentinian never grasped it. Before almost every Tomic shot there is a discernible pause, during which no one can predict what will ensue, least of all Mayer this night. Once, perhaps Tomic did not know either, but he does now. Mayer was wrong-footed more often than two blind men in a three-legged race.

This confounding applied even to his serve, previously considered a weakness. Tomic won almost 90 per cent of points on his first serve, mostly cheaply, and two-thirds on his second. He did not face one break point. In one early game, he won points with second serves at 207kmh and 124kmh. Both make only Tomic sense. By match’s end, Mayer would have needed to send his racquets away for re-framing.

Cruise control ... Australia's Bernard Tomic. Photo: Joe Armao

Tomic is a law unto himself. Sometimes, he seems to be playing for his own amusement, as if in his sports car, alternately cruising and surging. Sometimes, it is as if he is mimicking his opponent, just to show he can. But there is a grand plan, now emerging.

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Seemingly, Tomic has made a career out of being young and promising. He is still just 20, still the youngest player in the top 100. But his coming of age is imminent.

Last year, he began brightly, but faded, as the physically immature do. Between seasons, he re-imagined everything. This year, he looks to have grown into his 196cm frame. He has won all nine matches he has played, including one against world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the Hopman Cup in Perth, and his first tour title in Sydney.

Australian Open, Day 2

The world is becoming his oyster. This is how he has always said it would be, since he was 14 or so. From one so young, this was outrageous. But a band of the knowing kept saying: ‘‘He can play.’’ He is learning discretion. Once he drew a bead on all four majors. Now he says he is aiming for the top 10. Soon.

At first, Australian crowds did not know how to take him. The cockiness, the insouciance, the casual manner, the hint of a smirk, the way he seemed even to treat the Davis Cup as a pawn in a game: these were in such contrast to the intensity and naked patriotism of Hewitt and Pat Rafter, the most recent darlings. But there is another difference. Tomic is much taller than both, and tall men have a different bearing. He can still look dorky, until he has a tennis racquet in his hand.

Besides, winning is its own justification, and and Tuesday night’s crowd thrilled to it. ‘‘I feel like they’re on my side now,’’ he said. Of course, it will not always be this easy. Exhibition wins count for nothing in major tournaments. And when in charge, Tomic’s finesse sometimes turns into cuteness. Mayer could not punish him for it, but the luminaries will.

31 comments

Tomic will always be a prat. He might end up as No.1, but it won't change his attitude. Hopefully he'll learn to hide his arrogance, and arrogance is most certainly required to be the best in the world - a person must have a certain self-confidence and know they're better than everyone else to win consistently. A touch of humility is what makes champions great, and Bernie has none...

Commenter

Hugh Briss

Location

Gold Coast

Date and time

January 16, 2013, 4:18AM

Tell me a champion who does not have a touch of arrogance cannot think of one. Yes Tomic is brash and yes he is somewhat outspoken but so too was Hewitt, Rafter, Cash etc.The players have an opportunity to make a lot of money at a young age, ego , arrogance etc are all part of the package as too the desire to win. Its no different to a corporate environment or what we encopunter in real life except the majority of people we crtoss paths with are nobody's and dont come under the full glare of public scrutiny, hero worshipping or newsworthiness. I have certainly come across many arrogant people in my life, some corporate leaders, some policemen some academics, and some just nobody's what Tomic is doing is purely acting like a young guy who is very good at what he does and he makes a lot of money. Do you have a problem with that?

In fact he shows a lot more humility than many of our League Stars, Union stars, Soccer stars

Commenter

Lindsay

Location

Sydney

Date and time

January 16, 2013, 5:48AM

Oh Please!. 3 weeks ago you were ready to hang this guy because he passed wind in a fashion that did not suit you, such was your ridicule of him and now we have articles like this. Shame on you.

Commenter

Kouta

Date and time

January 16, 2013, 4:26AM

When Lleyton Hewitt was 20 years old he had he had won 12 professional career titles. Bernard Tomic is 20 years old & has one professional career title to his credit. To reach the top 10 in the ATP is quite difficult. I wish Bernard well - but to make comparisons between himself & the greats of tennis like Roger Federer is very premature.

Commenter

AussieAlan

Date and time

January 16, 2013, 4:47AM

A real tennis fan would know times have changed dramatically and that there is only five players in the Top 250 who are 20 or younger and only one has won a tournament. Comparing generations is stupidity at it's highest level.

Commenter

Kouta

Date and time

January 16, 2013, 5:19AM

Federer had won just 1 title at the same age. If you can't tell the difference between a scrapper relying on their court speed (Nadal/Hewitt/Chang) and players that rely on finesse (Tomic, Federer) then you don't know a lot about tennis.

Player's like Hewitt, Nadal and Chang tend to shine brightly early then fade fast as their bodies let them down. Federer is 30 and still superb.

Commenter

Don't get it

Location

Aus

Date and time

January 16, 2013, 6:40AM

Kouta I shall compare some current generation tennis players with Tomic. Novak Djokovic had won 8 ATP titles at the age of 20. Rafael Nadal is 26 and had won 16 ATP titles by the age of 20. Bernard is good but has not achieved like Novak & Nadal at the same age. Bernard is not in this league. Unless Bernard reaches No1 in the world & holds that position for a number of months he should not be mentioned in the same league as the current generation of Tennis Greats - namely Federer, Nadal & Djokovic.

Commenter

AussieAlan

Date and time

January 16, 2013, 7:52AM

Kouta - I shall compare two current generation tennis greats Rafael Nadal (26 yrs old) & Novak Djokovich (25yrs old) with Bernard Tomic. Rafael Nadal had won 17 ATP tour titles at the age of 20 & Novak Djokovich won 8 ATP tour titles by the age of 20. Other notable players include Roger Federer & Lleyton Hewitt. Bernard Tomic has not achieved anything like the Tennis greats mentioned above.

Commenter

AussieAlan

Date and time

January 16, 2013, 8:52AM

When Roger Federer was 20 he had only won 1 title. Point being some players peak early (Hewitt) and some later (Federer). Tomic's game will improve and there are signs that his attitude will improve as he matures

Commenter

Jober

Location

Sydney

Date and time

January 16, 2013, 9:34AM

Tomic still needs to show some respect to junior fans because at the moment he treats them with contempt off screen after what I saw at the NSW Open